A conventional cooling/heating apparatus and a conventional mounting apparatus have been used for various processing apparatuses in a semiconductor manufacturing field. Hereinafter, a cooling/heating apparatus and a mounting apparatus for use in an inspection apparatus for inspecting electrical characteristics of a semiconductor wafer will be described as an example.
A conventional inspection apparatus E includes a loader chamber L for transferring a wafer W, a prober chamber P for inspecting electrical characteristics of the wafer W transferred from the loader chamber L and a controller (not shown), as shown in FIG. 4. Further, the inspection apparatus E is configured to transfer the wafer W from the loader chamber L to the prober chamber P to inspect the electrical characteristics of the wafer W under the control of the controller and then return the wafer W to the prober chamber P.
As shown in FIG. 4, the prober chamber P includes a wafer chuck 1 capable of controlling a temperature of the wafer W mounted thereon; an XY table 2 for moving the wafer chuck 1 in an X and a Y direction; a probe card 3 provided above the wafer chuck 1 moving by the XY table 2; and a position alignment mechanism 4 for position-aligning a plurality of probes 3A of the probe card 3 with a plurality of electrode pads of the wafer W on the wafer chuck 1.
As also shown in FIG. 4, a test head T of a tester is pivotably provided on a head plate 5 of the prober chamber P and, also, the test head T and the probe card 3 are electrically connected with each other via a performance board (not shown). After setting a test temperature of the wafer W on the wafer chuck 1 between a low temperature region and a high temperature region of the temperature range, a test signal is transmitted from the tester to the probes 3A via the test head T and the performance board, thereby inspecting the electrical characteristics of the wafer W.
Accordingly, the conventional wafer chuck 1 is provided with a cooling/heating apparatus 6 for a temperature control, as shown in FIG. 5. As can be seen from FIG. 5, the cooling/heating apparatus 6 includes a first cooling liquid circulation path 62 for circulating cooling liquid between the wafer chuck 1 and a cooling liquid tank 61; a second cooling liquid circulation path 63 for circulating the cooling liquid in the cooling liquid tank 61 to be cooled or heated; a temperature sensor 64 for detecting a temperature of the cooling liquid in the cooling liquid tank 61; a temperature controller 65 operating based on the detected value of the temperature sensor 64; a temperature control mechanism 66 for cooling of heating the cooling liquid circulating through the second cooling liquid circulating path 63 under the control of the temperature controller 65; and a heater 67 provided in the second cooling liquid circulation path 63. The first and the second cooling liquid circulation path 62 and 63 are provided with a first and a second pump 62A and 63A for circulating the cooling liquid, respectively.
The temperature control mechanism 66 has a compressor 66A, a heat exchanger 66B and a coolant circulation path 66C for circulating a gaseous coolant between the compressor 66A and the heat exchanger 66B, as shown in FIG. 5. The coolant circulation path 66C includes an outgoing path, configured with a first and a second branch line 66D and 66E, allowing the gaseous coolant to flow from the compressor 66A toward the heat exchanger 66B; and an incoming path allowing the gaseous coolant to flow from the heat exchanger 66B toward the compressor 66A.
The first branch line 66D is provided with a condenser 66G having a cooling fan 66F and, also, and a first electric valve 66H and an expansion valve 66I are attached to a downstream side thereof in order. The first electric valve 66H operates under the control of the temperature controller 65. The gaseous coolant whose pressure has been raised by the compressor 66A is cooled and condensed in the condenser 66G by the cooling fan 66F and thus liquefied into a liquid coolant. By opening the first electric valve 66H, the liquid coolant thus generated reaches the heat exchanger 66B via the expansion valve 66I. In the heat exchanger 66B, the liquid coolant is vaporized to cool the cooling liquid in the second cooling liquid circulation path 63 and then returns to the compressor 66A.
A depressurization valve 66J and a second electric valve 66K are attached in the second branch line 66E in order from an upstream side toward a downstream side. The second electric valve 66K and the heater 67 operate under the control of the temperature controller 65. The gaseous coolant whose temperature and pressure have been raised by the compressor 66A is depressurized by the depressurization valve 66J and then transferred to the heat exchanger 66B via the second electric valve 66K. The high-temperature gaseous coolant heats the cooling liquid of the second cooling liquid circulation path 63 in the heat exchanger 66B and then returns to the compressor 66A. When the heating in the heat exchanger 66B is insufficient, the heater 67 is driven to compensate the insufficient heating capacity in the heat exchanger 66B. In this way, a temperature of the cooling liquid in the cooling liquid tank 61 is controlled at a specific level by the cooling/heating apparatus 6.
Japanese Patent Laid-open Application No. 2004-076982 (hereinafter, referred to as “Patent Reference 1”) discloses therein a Stirling refrigeration system suitable for cooling a wafer chuck. The Stirling refrigeration system can cool an equipment (e.g., the wafer chuck) by circulating a secondary refrigerant cooled by a Stirling refrigeration unit.
However, the cooling/heating apparatus 6 for the wafer chuck 1 in FIG. 5 has a drawback in which a complicated line structure of the temperature control mechanism 66 may cause a frequent failure in various valves attached to the coolant circulation path 66C. Moreover, the power consumption is increased by the use of the heater 67 in addition to the temperature control mechanism 66 in supplementing the insufficient heating thereof.
The Stirling refrigeration system of Patent Reference 1 uses a Stirling refrigeration unit having a simple line structure with no electric valve, so that problems such as a failure in an electric valve and the like do not occur. However, the Stirling refrigeration unit is merely a cooler and thus is only applicable to a cooling system. That is, it is not applicable to a system having both functions of cooling and heating, such as the system of FIG. 5 or the like.